Dive into key logistics trends, challenges and opportunities with Flexe and Let’s Talk Supply Chain.
Key Takeaways
- Enterprises battle excess inventories amid tight industrial capacity
- Secondary and tertiary warehouse locations become important for enterprises to serve as final-mile delivery nodes
- Flexibility in warehousing means one thing: Speed. Flexes integrates proprietary, cloud-based technology with enterprise shippers and connects them with a network of over 1000 warehouses
Flexe’s Jordan Lawrence joined Sarah Barnes-Humphrey of Let’s Talk Supply Chain to discuss Flexe, supply chain disruptions and the intersection of logistics and technology.
Watch the full episode on YouTube or read the transcript below.
The following transcript has been revised for brevity and clarity.
Sarah Barnes-Humphrey - Let’s Talk Supply Chain:
Let’s start with industry trends. What’s happening in warehousing right now? What challenges are people facing?
Jordan Lawrence - Director of Logistics Strategy, Flexe:
Most shippers have two choices, with serious trade-offs.
They can hold larger inventory footprints to make sure they are ready for whatever demand shifts play out. But that comes with carrying costs, rising interest rates and margin pressure.
Some are reducing inventories, shrinking SKUs and right-sizing margins. They risk stockouts during peak demand.
Sarah Barnes-Humphrey:
What does Flexe do?
Jordan Lawrence:
We integrate our proprietary, cloud-based technology with enterprise shippers and connect them with a network of over 1000 warehouses. We capture capacity previously inaccessible to shippers.
Enterprises solve problems with self-run logistics networks and national 3PL partners. The U.S. has 1000+ other operators with capacity, though. This capacity is unavailable to enterprises because they aren’t going to commit to one-off integrations.
Flexe provides a single point of integration and holistic capacity. We then match shippers’ needs with the right operators—for fulfillment, distribution or capacity.
Sarah Barnes-Humphrey:
Retailers are interested in finding the right space and location for micro fulfillment. They look for smaller spaces to carry less inventory closer to customers.
Jordan Lawrence:
Great point: Enterprises hold facilities in larger cities. As inventories grow more dispersed to serve the direct-to-consumer channel, secondary and tertiary facility locations become more important. With Flexe, you have a large portfolio of operators available to solve those challenges.
We also see a strategy where storefronts serve as final-mile delivery nodes. The problem: Storefronts hold limited backstock. Shippers need additional, secondary locations so they can replenish stores effectively.
Sarah Barnes-Humphrey:
Especially since they are competing with the “Amazon effect”. Holding inventory closer to customers is key.
Jordan Lawrence:
It’s important from a cost perspective, too. Final-mile transportation is very costly. Warehouses close to customers reduce these costs. And fast delivery promises improve eCommerce cart conversions.
Flexibility in warehousing means one thing: Speed. That’s where Flexe focuses a lot of energy. How can we solve for volatility beyond enterprises’ fixed networks?
Sarah Barnes-Humphrey:
Let’s talk about capacity. In the pandemic, everyone shipped everything. Capacity is limited. How has Flexe stepped in?
Jordan Lawrence:
Flexibility in warehousing means one thing: Speed. That’s where Flexe focuses a lot of energy. How can we solve for volatility beyond enterprises’ fixed networks?
Traditional models require three-to-seven year capacity decisions—in the tightest industrial market on record. Enterprises buy at the top of the market. Shippers need optionality.
We work with shippers to add capacity over a shorter time period—dispersed across the country. Then they can opportunistically look around and make other commitments as the market changes.
Sarah Barnes-Humphrey:
What does it mean for an enterprise to onboard?
Jordan Lawrence:
That’s the primary component for speed in the industry. And there’s more than one answer. For clients solving an immediate capacity problem, they can upload a CSV and leverage our network. That’s onboarding in days or weeks.
For sophisticated solutions, we will move as fast as enterprises are willing to move. We offer free integrations, and we take the process very seriously as we scope the work.
It’s a one-time integration, and enterprises can come back to build additional solutions in weeks because they’re already integrated.
In the middle of the pandemic, a Fortune 100 company experienced surging demand and ended a key lease. Flexe executed in three weeks as the primary fulfillment partner in Southern California.
Sarah Barnes-Humphrey:
What was a challenge a client brought to you?
Jordan Lawrence:
In the middle of the pandemic, a Fortune 100 company experienced surging demand and ended a key lease. We were already integrated and executed in three weeks as the primary fulfillment partner in Southern California. We then worked in parallel as they set up their own solution and built volume.
Another example is Aterian. They are a publicly traded eCommerce company. We work as their primary fulfillment partner.
Sarah Barnes-Humphrey:
What can we expect from Flexe in the future?
Jordan Lawrence:
We are just getting started. Cloud-based technology allows us to seamlessly integrate across our warehousing network. When we look at the supply and demand mismatches, there are tremendous opportunities in the warehousing space.
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